Build a better Belding

The Belding Area Chamber of Commerce is stepping up its game after a few years of shuffling on the executive board.

Darcy Meade — darcy.meade@sentinel-standard.com

BELDING — The Belding Area Chamber of Commerce is stepping up its game after a few years of shuffling on the executive board.

BACC President Dan Mitchell joined the chamber two years ago as four members of the executive board were leaving due to their terms ending or had been in the organization for a long time and wanted to leave. Those four members were officers of the chamber, which left a void within the organization.

"When I came in there were four people who came on the board at the same time, they were brand new, that became the president, vice president, secretary and treasurer," Mitchell said. "A brand new slate of executive officers who had never been involved in the chamber before and so we took a couple steps backwards, just trying to handle the events that were normal chamber events, normal things to be involved in."

The chamber is also different from others in the area, because they don't have a full-time employee dedicated to chamber work, according to Mitchell. He said that is hard, because putting in time with the chamber means volunteering and taking time away from work or family. Without a dedicated person, it also means there's no one to push things along and lead, Mitchell added.

"So far, at least in my opinion, it's been a very good cooperation between the city, the schools and the chamber representing the businesses in town and we're starting to see some excitement there," Mitchell said.

Now things are getting back on track. The chamber started meeting again regularly in September 2016 and has elected officers, which include: Mitchell as president, Spencer "Pep" Geisen as vice president, Christine Felde as treasurer and Keven Krieger as executive director. Belding City Manager Bruce Brown serves as a representative for the city and Superintendent Brent Noskey serves as a representative of the school district. There are also at least seven other board members.

"Without a strong community you wouldn't have good schools," Mitchell said. "Without strong businesses you wouldn't have a good community. Without a strong community you aren't going to have good businesses. The three go hand-in-hand."

The chamber is currently in the middle of its push for new members. The cost for an individual or a business to join the chamber is $100, no matter the size. Mitchell said he feels this amount is affordable and didn't see a need to have levels, because it's all hands on deck.

"As our membership grows it will allow us to take on more events, more activities for the communities, more benefits for our members, but it will be on the responsibility of the members to assist us in volunteering time to make things happen," Geisen said. "You're showing communities support, but at the same time it's going to be the responsibility of the community to support the businesses as well."

Geisen also encourages those who are retired to join. There is a plan in the future to offer honorary spots.

There are over 200 businesses within the Belding community and the chamber hopes to attract not just those businesses and individuals within the city, but on the outlying areas as well. Kreiger says the chamber covers the entire area in and around Belding, because they don't want to be restricted to just the city.

"We've actually had businesses from Ionia, Greenville and Lowell reach out to us as well, because they either have employees who live here or just have a general interest or customers who frequent their places," Kreiger said. "We're very open to the surrounding communities. If we thrive, everyone thrives."

The BACC has its hands in many events around Belding, including their membership gathering, annual golf outing, Belding's Got Talent and plans to bring back the Labor Day 5k this year. The chamber will also be running the annual community showcase held at the high school.

"We're looking in the future of adding more events, but right now with everything that's happened ... we really understood that this is a lot of work on top of what we already do, but we're very passionate about bringing it back and putting the chamber in the forefront in the community," Kreiger said.

For more information, visit beldingchamber.org or call 616-794-1900 ext. 202.

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